


No Capes

by havocthecat



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Mutants, Gen, Mutant Powers, Never on Atlantis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-27
Updated: 2018-09-27
Packaged: 2019-07-18 03:50:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16110206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/havocthecat/pseuds/havocthecat
Summary: An alternate universe story I never finished where Kate Heightmeyer, John Sheppard, and Evan Lorne were never on Atlantis. They were going to be revealed to have superpowers and probably all end up falling into bed together, but I certainly didn't get anywhere close to that far. I never will, alas.





	No Capes

Kate slid behind her desk at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and flipped open her laptop. The file on her next patient was complicated, to say the least. She opened a brown paper bag and pulled out a sandwich and bottle of juice to eat while she reviewed the file. 

There weren't enough details about the incident that had caused his referral, but what there was looked normal. Unfortunately. As a therapist, one dealing with the armed forces while there were active wars, most of her cases were sticky. Kate frowned and leaned closer to her monitor, taking a bite of her sandwich while she did so.

A knock sounded on her door. Kate shoved her sandwich back into the bag, then put her lunch into a desk drawer. She straightened and put on her most pleasant, non-judgmental expression. She'd practiced it during her internship, and it had worked out just like she'd wanted it to. "Come in!" she called.

The door swung open. Framed in the doorway was a man in Air Force service uniform, with dark hair that was a little more raggedly cut than was allowed by regulations. He matched her interested expression with a bored look.

"Colonel Sheppard?" asked Kate.

"Dr. Heightmeyer, I presume?" asked Colonel Sheppard, giving her a quick nod.

"I'm certainly not Dr. Livingstone," said Kate dryly.

It was the right thing to say to break the ice. "I'm not really glad to see you either," said Colonel Sheppard, walking across the room. 

Kate stood and moved around her desk to shake his hand. "Most of my patients aren't," said Kate. She moved over to a set of armchairs and sat, motioning to Colonel Sheppard to take the seat across from her.

"This some kind of psychological technique?" asked Colonel Sheppard. He sat down without hesitation, at least. This was going to be as difficult as she'd thought.

"I believe that sitting behind my desk during our sessions puts an artificial separation between us." Kate smiled at Colonel Sheppard, who looked wary. 

She didn't let the silence stretch on. "Where would you like to begin?" asked Kate. She tilted her head and gave Colonel Sheppard a curious look.

"I thought you were the doctor." Colonel Sheppard had a charming smile, but Kate wasn't about to let him talk her into holding his hand - metaphorically speaking - throughout his entire course of treatment.

"Of course," said Kate, smiling politely. "However, I'm here to help you, and that means starting with the events that you consider significant."

Even though she hadn't mentioned the accident, Colonel Sheppard's expression closed off, and he looked away from her, out the window. She'd requested an office overlooking the gardens in order to have a relaxing view. Maybe it would put Colonel Sheppard at ease.

"There's nothing significant," said Colonel Sheppard. He shrugged and slouched in his seat. "Mission gone wrong. Just a snafu. Happens all the time."

Apparently not.

"Situation normal; all fucked up?" Kate let her voice have an uptick at the end, to make it sound like a question. With luck, that would draw more from Colonel Sheppard.

"You know your military lingo," said Colonel Sheppard. He sounded at least a little admiring, which was progress. She knew it wouldn't be easy to get him talking.

***

The Asia Trail of the Smithsonian National Zoological Park was quiet just after opening. Kate leaned on the railing and watched half a dozen otters splash around in the water. It was nearly feeding time according to the posted schedule. 

"Fancy seeing you here," she heard someone say, and turned to see Evan Lorne walking up to her with a grin. "How's it going, Doc?"

"When we're not at Walter Reed, you can call me Kate, you know." Kate smiled at Evan. "In fact, I'd prefer it."

It was nice to have company who didn't want extra therapy outside of office hours. They'd run into each other a few times outside of work, and Evan was one of the rare patients who could be a friend some day. Few people were tactful enough to keep work-related discussions relegated to the office.

"Can we skip you calling me 'Major Lorne' while we're here, then?" asked Evan. He held out a cardboard box full of roasted pecan, and gave Kate a questioning look. 

Kate smiled and took a handful. "So what brings you out here today?"

"Just some good old-fashioned tourism," said Evan. He shrugged. "Maybe I can pick up some cute chicks."

"I don't think any of the birds will be interested in you," said Kate, chuckling.

Evan ducked his head and had the grace to look embarrassed. "You never know," he said. "Or maybe someone with more vocabulary than 'quack' will take pity on me and keep me company."

"I suppose that depends on what zoo highlights you're thinking of visiting," said Kate. She popped a pecan in her mouth.

"I hear the Invertebrate Exhibit has a bird-eating tarantula," said Evan. He grinned as Kate made a face. "Come on, don't tell me you're squeamish?"

"Is that a challenge?" asked Kate. She'd learned long ago not to let the armed forces officers get away with that sort of thing. 

"It might be," said Evan, pretending to consider it.

Kate laughed. "I can't let you big, tough Air Force types show me up, now, can I?"

"It's never a good idea." Evan nodded at the exit sign, and they started walking together. "We big, tough Air Force types are insufferable when that happens."

"I'd do just about anything to avoid that," said Kate.

***

Kate had been working at Walter Reed for five years. She'd applied two years after the invasion of Iraq, gambling that there would be a call for qualified therapists to treat Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Since then, she'd seen it in more patients than she could keep track of without a computer, but none of them had presented as oddly as Evan.

The Air Force sent all its recruits to Basic Combat Training where, she'd been told in detail by dozens of patients, they were taught martial skills. In between all of that, the Air Force inculcated a sense of neatness, punctuality, respect, and decorum. 

Kate had never encountered an officer from any branch of the armed forces who didn't consider "on time" to be late and "early" to be punctual, but this was ridiculous. She stood in the doorway to her office's waiting room, where Evan was sitting and thumbing through a National Geographic.

At four o'clock in the morning.

Not even the scent of the coffee Kate held was waking him up. She turned to the guard who had called her in and sighed, just a little. She'd been counting on sleeping for at least three more hours. He gave her a worried look. "Ma'am?"

"You may as well go back to the front desk, Walter," said Kate. She took a drink of coffee. "This is one of my patients. I know how to handle him."

"You're sure?" asked Walter, his worried look not giving way.

"Major Lorne is just sleepwalking." Kate suppressed an irritated look. All she wanted right then was to be left alone. A lack of strangers around would make Evan's sleepwalking easier to handle, and possibly less embarrassing when he woke up from it. "I've known how to handle sleepwalking since I was at my first internship. Please. Just go back to your station."

At that moment, she wanted nothing more than for Walter to leave her and her patient alone.

Walter shook his head. "I guess you're the expert."


End file.
